New deal links southern Qld to mine jobs

By Melinda HowellsUpdated
Thu 20 Dec 2012, 12:02 PM AEDT

Regional Development Australia (RDA) says a new agreement with coal mining company GVK Hancock could lead to job opportunities and the introduction of direct flights to the Galilee Basin from airports across southern Queensland.

A five-year memorandum of understanding has been signed, with the aim of sourcing workers for the Alpha Coal and Kevin's Corner projects.

RDA's Wide Bay Burnett executive officer, Paul Massingham, says the projects will require thousands of workers in the construction and production phases.

"Everything from truck drivers, plant operators in general, through to your engineers but also your non-traditional miner roles of course, the camp operators, the opportunity for tourism and hospitality trained staff all exist in this agreement," he said.

Mr Massingham says there are already about 3,000 resource workers in the region driving vast distances to work in central Queensland.

The new agreement does not guarantee direct flights but Mr Massingham says 800 mine workers have so far registered an interest in fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) services.

"The guarantee will come from the demand driven by the community," he said.

"Flight operations are actually a very easy thing to deliver and it's all driven by the demand.

"We really do encourage workers to register their details there. That is the demand that will drive the need for the flights."